Page 40 of Securing Jane

The man at her side didn’t even tense. He simply shrugged. “Hey, you’re the one who keeps telling me I need to relax more. So this morning, I relaxed and slept in. Can’t have it both ways.”

The rear admiral chuckled. “True.” He turned to Jane. “Good to see you again, Jane. How are you?”

“I’m good, Sir,” she said.

“None of that ‘sir’ shit today,” he told her immediately. “It’s Dag.”

“Yes, Sir…er…Dag,” Jane said awkwardly.

The pretty woman at his side grinned and held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Brenae, Dag’s wife. It’s good to meet you.”

“I’m Jane,” she told her.

“Sorry, I should’ve done the introductions,” Storm said with a squeeze of the hand he was still holding. “Jane works in our building and is responsible for the mail. She does a hell of a job organizing all the shit that gets sent to us, and I don’t think operations on base would run as smoothly as they do without her.”

Jane blushed. “He’s exaggerating,” she told Brenae.

“I doubt it,” the rear admiral’s wife said. “I know Storm, and he doesn’t compliment anyone lightly. If he said it, he believes it.” Her eyes flicked down to where Storm was holding Jane’s hand, and she smiled. “Welcome to the family,” she said easily.

“Oh, but—”

“Thanks.” Storm interrupted whatever Jane was going to say.

“I saw Rocco and the others over that way, and Wolf and his team have commandeered the prime piece of beach real estate next to them,” Dag told them. “They were all asking about you earlier. You might go and get the hellos out of the way before you get Jane a drink.”

“Sounds good.”

“Oh, and I know it’s Saturday and all…but I wanted to tell you that NCIS called late last night. They think they know who sent the bomb.”

“They do?” Storm asked. “Who?”

“Lieutenant Simon Sandburg.”

Jane looked up at Storm and saw no recognition in his face. Dag obviously saw the same thing, because he kept talking.

“He was a lieutenant who was court-martialed for misappropriation of government property.”

“That’s right,” Storm said, nodding. “I remember that case. He was the guy who was in charge of the heavy equipment, and he had his unit working jobs for the locals and was pocketing the money, right?”

“That’s him. He also couldn’t account for several heavy trucks when it came time to come back to the States. NCIS tracked his accounts and flagged several unidentified deposits, but he refused to tell them where he got the money,” Dag said. “He was court-martialed six months ago and is still in the area. He wasn’t shy about telling anyone who would listen that he’d been screwed, and that the real people who should’ve been disciplined were the commanders of the base.”

“They were cleared, right?” Storm asked.

“Yup. Clean as a whistle. Sandburg was guilty as hell and apparently is just bitter he got a dishonorable discharge. He hasn’t found a job since he was kicked out, and I’m told he spends a lot of his time at the local pubs drowning his sorrows. Shit thing of it all is that he’s got a wife who’s working her ass off to keep their heads above water, but it isn’t enough. NCIS says they’re going to lose their house in a few months.”

Storm whistled. “Sounds like he’s got an ax to grind.”

“Yup. Anyway, I just wanted you to know. NCIS and the local cops are going to talk to him this weekend.” Dag looked at Jane. “So you won’t have to keep looking over your shoulder for too much longer.”

“Good,” Jane told him. She didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t really been too worried. It was always in the back of her mind, especially since Storm had warned her to be on the lookout, but she never seriously thought anyone would be after her. She didn’t have anything to do with Sandburg being discharged, so there was no reason for him to come after her.

“I love you, Dag, but…enough. We’re here to relax and have fun, not talk shop,” Brenae lightly scolded.

“Sorry, sweetheart. You’re right. We’ll talk later,” Dag told Storm.

Storm gave the rear admiral a chin lift, then he was pulling her away.

“Nice to meet you, Brenae,” she called out as Storm led them toward his men.